Allyl acetate is an important industrial starting material used in the production of solvents and allyl alcohol.
Processes for production of allyl acetate include gas phase reactions and liquid phase reactions using propylene, acetic acid and oxygen as starting materials. The known catalysts that are widely used in such reactions contain palladium as the main catalyst component, with alkali metals and/or alkaline earth metal compounds as co-catalyst components, supported on a carrier. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication HEI No. 2-90145 discloses a process for production of allyl acetate using a catalyst comprising palladium, potassium acetate and copper supported on a carrier.
Other catalyst components have also been investigated, and for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication SHO No. 52-153908 discloses a process for production of allyl acetate using a catalyst with minimal loss of activity by addition of molybdenum in addition to palladium, potassium acetate and copper.
Also, although the reaction differs from that of allyl acetate, Japanese Patent Public Inspection No. 2003-525723 for example, discloses a process for production of a vinyl acetate production catalyst with reduced generation of carbon dioxide during production of vinyl acetate from ethylene, oxygen and acetic acid as the starting material, by supporting palladium in a first step and gold in a second step, carrying out reduction treatment, and then supporting copper(II) acetate and potassium acetate in a third step.
Catalyst technology for production of vinyl acetate has been long established, and it has also been attempted to apply catalyst technology for vinyl acetate production to catalyst technology for production of allyl acetate; however, the journal “Shokubai” [Catalyst], Vol. 33, No. 1 (1991), p. 28-32 reported that the catalyst performance is significantly diminished when the starting material is changed from ethylene to propylene.